[[quoteright:350: [[{{Leprechaun}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4fea7ff7e7a86843c0e0e3aea6b82bd2.png]]]][[caption-width-right:350: Send a volley cheer on high, shake down the thunder from the sky.]]->''"Then Maggie O'Connor took up the job, 'Biddy' says she 'you're wrong, I'm sure'\\Biddy gave her a belt in the gob and left her sprawling on the floor\\Then the war did soon engage, t'was woman to woman and man to man\\Shillelagh law was all the rage and a row and a ruction soon began"''-->--''Tim Finnegan's Wake'', traditional Irish ballad

Ireland, the land of ire.

The Irish, or at least [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]], counterpart to the ViolentGlaswegian (when there's [[{{Scotireland}} even any difference at all]]). Characters who are Irish or are of Irish descent are often portrayed as being fond of physical confrontation; even in a work where violence is typical, Irish characters will be especially eager for it. Being [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy intoxicated]] and/or [[BarBrawl in a bar]] will often accentuate these tendencies.

This can be [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible played many ways]]. A good-natured BoisterousBruiser who favors his fists is typical of many recent examples; boxing has a long history in Ireland and among Irish-Americans. Negative portrayals are more common the farther back you go. More thuggish examples will often carry a [[CarryABigStick shillelagh]], a traditional knobby cudgel that has become a symbol of Irish culture as well as its violence. Even darker examples might be remorseless {{Blood Knight}}s, tyrannical bullies, or terrorist psychopaths. If a Fighting Irishman is or was in the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles Irish Republican Army]] expect him to have at least a bit of the MadBomber thrown in.

This may very slowly be becoming a DiscreditedTrope; while in the 19th century Irish soldiers did indeed make up a disproportionate number of soldiers in the [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire British]] and [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar American]] armies (and are still allowed to join the British Army) times have moved on even if the stereotype hasn't. [[RealityIsUnrealistic Ironically]], Ireland is one of very few countries to become independent in the 20th century to have ''never'' been in an international war. During UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo it remained neutral and turned down a 1949 offer to join {{NATO}}. In fact, the Irish military has a good reputation as peacekeepers. The island also has a low rate of violent crime by international standards. In recent years, Irish boxers have had success at the OlympicGames.

[[noreallife]]----!!Examples

[[AC:TropeNamer]]* The {{Trope Namer}}s are the University of Notre Dame's varsity sports teams and their belligerent {{Leprechaun}} mascot, who in turn got the name from Father William Corby, who was twice as President of the University of Notre Dame and served with the "The Fighting Sixty-Ninth" 69th New York Infantry Regiment, an Irish regiment during the American Civil War.

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]* Irish girl Clover in the comic ''ComicBook/BlueMonday'' is easily the most violent person in the entire comic.* Matt Murdock, a.k.a. Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} is the biggest example of this trope in comics. The son of an Irish-American boxer, Jack "The Devil" Murdock, Matt Murdock prowls the rooftops of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood as Daredevil. He's an expert martial artist and boxer, and generally not someone you'd want to face in a fight. Matt is also portrayed as being devoutly Roman Catholic, another famous Irish cultural trait.* ''Comicbook/{{Hellblazer}}'': His native Liverpool being at least as Irish as [[{{Southies}} Boston]] in places, John Constantine probably counts, although he isn't really much of a scrapper, preferring to let cockney Chas or {{Violent Glaswegian}} Header handle that sort of thing. His girlfriend Kit has some boisterous friends, but they're more boozers than bruisers.* Steve Rogers, better known as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, was born to poor Irish immigrants.* The ex-IRA terrorists of ''ComicBook/SinCity'' are a much darker example.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]* ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'': The [=MacManus=] brothers get into a BarBrawl with some [[TheMafiya Russian mobsters]] and decide to become [[VigilanteMan Vigilante Men]] and kill them all, and then the rest of the organized crime in Boston.* Irish-American director John Ford loved this trope, usually playing it in the lovable BoisterousBruiser variation and frequently involving alcohol. ** In ''Film/TheQuietMan'', everyone is itching for a fight between Thornton and Danaher, and when it finally comes, they all want to join in.** In ''Film/FortApache'' you have three, with only the sober Sergeant-Major [=O'Rourke=] an aversion. ** In ''Film/SheWoreAYellowRibbon'' they get into fights with fellow rankers from another immigrant group, German-Americans.* Inverted in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'': Seamus [=McFly=] keeps counseling Marty about staying ''out'' of fights and keeping his cool, although this is probably because his own brother ''Martin'' was very much the embodiment of this trope. This didn't end well.--> '''Seamus''': Martin used to let men provoke him into fighting. He was concerned people would think him a coward if he refused. Thats how he got a bowie knife shoved through his belly in a saloon in Virginia City.* In ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', Wallace's most eagerly violent soldier is an Irishman who joined the campaign not for the sake of freedom, but for the chance to kill Englishmen. He's also insane, or [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation deeply religious with a sick sense of humor.]]* Crops up in ''Film/GoneBabyGone'', where a man at the bar in Dorchester where Patrick goes to investigate gets belligerent and refers to him as having an "ass like a Skippy Jar." Amusingly enough, this was a ThrowItIn and the man was an actual resident of the area, and Creator/BenAffleck, the director, explains on the commentary that they were actually nervous about whether the residents would take direction or get belligerent for real.* In MichaelFlynn's ''[[Literature/TheSpiralArm The January Dancer]]'', a planet that modeled itself after Oireland has this in the package.* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': Dum Dum Dugan appears to be an Irishman who'll "always fight" as long as you pick up the tab.* ''Film/FarAndAway'': Lower-class Irish are shown to be rowdy, with a love of wrestling and fighting. The local Irish-American boss is introduced bare-knuckle boxing for fun, and Joseph Donnelly, the male lead, is a young, hot-headed Irish immigrant who brawls his brothers and ends up fighting for money. This is all contrasted with the upperclass Irish, who behave like typical European gentry.* ''Film/AlanPartridgeAlphaPapa'': Man with a gun in the radio station? Not a problem. But as Alan says "He's Irish!"

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]* Mulvaney, the Irishman among Creator/RudyardKipling's ''Soldiers Three'' (along with Yorkshireman Learoyd and Cockney Ortheris) is certainly a fighter to be reckoned with.* The title character of ''Kim'', real name: Kimball [=O'Hara=], is the son of a soldier in a fictional Irish regiment, the Mavericks. They also appear in the novel and appear to have a reputation in tune with this trope, although it really only comes to the for in one brief scene.* In Creator/PGWodehouse's ''[[Literature/{{Psmith}} Psmith, Journalist]]'', the main characters climb onto a rooftop in New York City to fend off some gangsters. A crowd of Irishmen instantly gathers on the opposite roof to watch the show.* Randle [=McMurphy=] from ''Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', whose string of convictions include a number of assaults.* TheRavenCycle 's Ronan Lynch, as well as his older brother Declan and father Niall Lynch, all have rough, combative streaks, raised to love sad ballads and bare knuckle fighting. At one point, Ronan observe that the only person who could beat up a Lynch brother is another Lynch brother.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]* ''Series/BurnNotice'': Ex-IRA fighter Fiona Glenanne is quick to recommend that any problem be solved by charging in with [[MoreDakka guns]] and [[StuffBlowingUp bombs]] blazing, especially when it involves [[BerserkButton children being endangered]]. Her suggestions usually get shot down in favor of something less conspicuous, but when the firepower's needed Fi is always ready to provide.-->'''Michael:''' Do you have some explosives?-->'''Fiona:''' I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that.* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' "Bookshop Sketch": ''101 Ways to Start a Fight'' by "an Irish gentleman whose name eludes me."* Danny Reagan in ''Series/BlueBloods''. Not so much a BloodKnight as a rather brutal CowboyCop.** The whole Reagan clan is definitely a BadassFamily, and the adults all seem to be tough fighters. Lampshaded by Great-Grandpa Reagan who responds to one of the kids wondering about what would happen if an intruder broke into the house by saying "Are you kiddin'? He'll take one look around this table and run the otha' way!"* In ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Jack Donaghy ends up in a fist fight with members of his dysfunctional family in the appropriately titled episode "The Fighting Irish".* ''Series/TheColbertReport'': Stephen has invoked his Irish heritage several times in connection with his generally aggressive demeanor:** At the end of his first interview with Chris Mathews, who is also Irish-American, Stephen challenged him to a wrestling match and lost.** Stephen has stated on multiple occasions that, if he had a TimeMachine, he would challenge [[EnglishCivilWar Oliver Cromwell]] to a bare-knuckle fistfight on the banks of the River Shannon because "he drove [his] people west of [the river] to farm on rocks and gravel!"* In Paul Haggis's critically acclaimed and violent ''Series/EZStreets'', all of the prinicpal characters are Irish-American.* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': Patrick Fitzwilliam and William Fitzpatrick, hosts of "Top O' the Mornin'" regularly punched walls.* In ''Series/LawAndOrder'', Logan, an [[OfficerOHara Irish cop]] has the worst temper of almost any of the detectives, and he ends up punching a city councilman and getting reassigned, leaving the main series.* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Shore Leave", Kirk's old Academy classmate Finnegan (or rather a simulacrum of him on the planet the ''Enterprise'' visited in the episode) fits this trope as he gives Kirk a hard time taunting him into a fight.* SonsOfAnarchy has several examples, but Jax Teller bare-knuckle fighting in Belfast is particularly memorable.

[[AC:{{Music}}]]* The ballad "Finnegan's Wake." A fight at a wake leads to the whiskey spilling over the corpse. Being Irish, he immediately rises from the dead to get at the whiskey and joins the fray.* The ''Garryowen'' is a song all about drinking and fighting, and fighting and...drinking. And fighting.* The Music/DropkickMurphys have several songs with this theme, including "Take 'Em Down" "Going Out In Style" and "Cruel", which contains this line:-->I was young and I thought I knew everything-->It's so hard to change a fool's mind-->When you're stubborn by nature and quick to the draw-->And you're full of inherited pride* The chorus of "The Irish Drinking Song" by Buck-O-Nine (commonly misattributed to the Dropkick Murphys or Music/FloggingMolly) consists of "We drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and fight" over and over again.* The protagonist of "Clancy Lowered the Boom."-->Now Clancy was a peaceful man\\If you know what I mean,\\The cops picked up the pieces\\After Clancy left the scene,\\He never looked for trouble\\That's a fact you can assume,\\But never-the-less when trouble would press\\Clancy lowered the boom!* Ireland's NationalAnthem "Amhrán na bhFiann"/"A Soldier's Song". Now, to be fair, a ''lot'' of national anthems are partially or entirely about how incredibly good the country in question is at war. Ireland's is still in the "entirely" category, being about how much Irish people fight and that's it.-->In valley green, on towering crag\\Our fathers fought before us\\And conquered 'neath the same old flag\\That's proudly floating o'er us\\We're children of a fighting race\\That never yet has known disgrace\\And as we march, the foe to face\\We'll chant a soldier's song

[[AC:ProfessionalWrestling]]* Wrestling/{{WWE}}:** Finlay, who "loves to fight", embodied the fun-loving BoisterousBruiser side of this trope, even as he knocked people out with his [[CarryABigStick shillelagh]].** "The Celtic Warrior" Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} represented the more villainous side, as he is willing to inflict serious injuries through underhanded means. After his HeelFaceTurn he's stopped using sneaky tactics and trying to cause permanent injuries, but he can still project serious menace when he wants.* Irish Whip Wrestling, [[SarcasmMode surprisingly]], boasts an alumni that includes more than a few proud fighting, and women, and maybe a bear. Though it also boasted its fair share of [[EvilForeigner fighting anti Irish.]]* "The Fighting Irish" is the RedBaron of Rhia O'Reilley, whose gotten [[CrowdChant chants]] of "Finlay's Daughter" at nCw Femme Fatales.

[[AC:StandupComedy]]* This bit from Creator/GeorgeCarlin:-->''I notice at Jewish weddings they break glass. You ever been to an Irish wedding? Glasses, bottles, mirrors, tables, chairs, arms, legs, the band instruments, and the groom's neck. We don't fuck around. [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Mazel tov!]]''

[[AC:TabletopGames]]* The Fianna from ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' often danced in this territory as an embodiment of [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] tropes. This is what happens when you take Fionn Maccumhail's warrior band and make them all [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy werewolves]].

[[AC:VideoGames]]* Aran Ryan in the ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' series, with the added bonus of being an [[AxCrazy utter lunatic]] willing to [[FightingDirty cheat]].* ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}'': Jack [[KnifeNut "The Butcher"]] [[BadAss O'Hara]] is a prime example, being the resident BloodKnight and OneManArmy.* In ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'', most of the [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Vox Populi]] militants who aren't black are Irish, and they are indeed quite violent. * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'': Patrick [=McReary=] is a HotBlooded heir to an [[TheIrishMob Irish Mob]] family. He later shows up in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', where he's one of the best gunmen you can recruit for heists.

[[AC:VisualNovels]]* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', the various mythological heroes usually have their own reasons for jumping into the Holy Grail War. Naturally, [[Myth/CelticMythology Cu Chulainn, Ireland's Man of light,]] [[BloodKnight is in it for a good fight]].** The prequel novel ''LightNovel/FateZero'' features another Irish Lancer, Diarmuid of the Love Spot, a hero from the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, who carves up legions of demonic terrors and fights Berserker hand-to-hand. Unlike Cu Chulainn he's not in it for a fight however, and while he likes fighting as much as any other Servant he's not unusually fond of it.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]* In one of the St. Patrick's Day episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Springfield's Protestant and Catholic Irish populations remember how much they hate each other when they aren't allowed to drink. Cue orgy of violence.** Another St. Patrick's Day episodes where Bart inadvertantly touches off a riot:-->'''[[KentBrockmanNews KENT BROCKMAN]]:''' Drunkenness, fighting, destruction of property: are these really the qualities we associate with the Irish?* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', drunken violence is portrayed as a standard evening's entertainment when Peter travels to Ireland to find his real father.** Parodied when Chris compares the [[ToiletHumor gas]] induced by his mother's vegetables to an Irish BarBrawl in his intestines; the Brussels sprout and broccoli argue with [[{{Oireland}} Irish accents]] and fight in front of a crowd of onlookers.* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Peggy rallies the school cheerleaders to beat up a version of the opposing team's Irish mascot by stereotyping as much as possible. Afterward, the act is treated as a hate crime.